Mounting equipment on roofs becomes more popular on residential buildings these days, for example, solar equipment is mounted on roofs for water heating purposes or for generating electricity. Residential buildings commonly have a roof comprising layers of shingles, whereby the shingles are arranged such that they partially overlap each other. The shingles serve the purpose to protect the roofs' substructure from any leakage of water in rainy conditions. However, when equipment is secured on the roof by, for example, means of fasteners, this protective shingle layer is damaged by the fasteners. Hence, in order not to impair the sealing and the protective functionality of the shingle layer, each point of entry has to be sealed.
There are currently different systems known, which provide sealing capabilities for roof mounted equipment.
For example U.S. Pat. No. 8,122,648 B1 shows a roof mounting system having a flashing plate with a hole extending therethrough. The flashing plate can be placed onto the shingle layer, preferably in between two shingles, and the hole in the flashing plate can be co-aligned with a borehole through the shingle layer into the substructure of the roof, in order to accommodate a fastener, for securing equipment onto the roof. The flashing plate is tapered at the hole, such that a flat area is avoided and water is diverted around the hole and therefore in turn around the fastener extending through the hole, such that water coming from above, is substantially restrained from leaking into the hole and reaching the substructure of the roof. Also, by pressing the flashing plate by means of the fastener onto the uppermost shingle on which the flashing plate is placed, a seal is created between the flashing plate and the uppermost shingle can be achieved.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,166,713 B1 shows a roofing system comprising a flashing plate similar to the aforementioned one, which however further encompasses a seal arranged beneath the flashing plate contacting the flashing plate and the uppermost shingle onto which it is placed, such that when by means of a fastener pressure is exerted upon the flashing plate, the seal is compressed and a seal is formed between the flashing plate and the uppermost shingle.
However, such known systems can still not completely prevent that water can reach the substructure of the roof, especially when located close to or right between the edges of the shingles.
Hence, there exists a need for a system to provide a seal for roof mounting equipment that reliably prevents that water reaching the substructure of the roof in order to avoid any damage. Focusing on a secure fastening in the center of the rafters, the mounting positioning in relation to the shingles cannot be influenced on site, which often results in fastening positions close and/or near the edge of shingles, which outruns a reliable sealing performance of most available systems underneath the flashing. Further, the system should also be quick mountable and easy to handle. The present invention accomplishes these objectives.